The present disclosure relates to magnetic assemblies, and more specifically, to a compact magnetic assembly that efficiently interconnects high frequency and high current magnetic devices.
High-density and low-loss assembly and interconnection of magnetic devices present various concerns when operating in a power range of tens of kilowatts, a current range of hundreds of amperes, and a frequency range of tens of kilohertz. The various concerns include the number of winding terminations, electromagnetic interference (EMI). High-density and low-loss assembly and interconnection of magnetic devices also invite an interest in solving issues related to interconnecting one or more subassemblies, and cooling the magnetic devices. Skin effect losses in high current conductors and leakage inductance can increase the overall power dissipation and lead to high EMI. Therefore, shielding and interconnect methods for reducing EMI are required, which add significant volume and weight to the conventional magnetic assembly. These issues are exacerbated for power converters comprising assemblies with multiple magnetics.
Typically, high frequency magnetic assemblies utilize one or more multi-stranded “Litz” wires for creating electrical connections to high frequency, high current magnetic devices. However, leakage inductance occurs when high frequency, high current flows through the Litz wire connection point, thereby increasing the radiated magnetic field and associated EMI. Consequently, additional shielding is required at the connection points. As a result, a magnetic assembly having a large number of Litz wire connection points requires an increased amount of EMI shielding, thereby preventing fabrication of a compact magnetic assembly.